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You Can Do Anything, But Not Everything

Written by Adrian Petrie, October 15, 2019

Have you ever wondered how the most successful people in the world are able to achieve so much in their day?

How does Gary Vaynerchuck run VaynerMedia with nearly 1,000 employees, whilst writing books, speaking on stages around the globe, and posting on every social media platform imaginable, seemingly every minute of the day?

Or in a more 'old school' world, how does Warren Buffet run his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, whist keeping abreast of the stock market and global business ventures, to remain arguably the greatest investor the world has ever seen?

Put simply, they delegate.

Delegation - It's an essential part of business, but plagues many bosses.

What should you delegate?

Who should you delegate to?

How do you ensure it's a success?

Let's talk about that now...

The best leaders in the world understand the importance of having a strong team behind them, with people whom they trust and can defer to. Successful people know they can do anything they put their minds to, but they also know that they can't do everything themselves. Instead, they double down on their strengths and outsource the rest.

When you try to be everything to everyone, you actually end up being nothing to all of them. Spreading yourself too thinly takes away the superpowers of what makes you great. You'll end up providing significantly less value to people than if you had stuck to your core strengths, and outsourced help for the things you're not so good at.

Delegating to others is hard work - it's an upfront investment in time, and requires you to identify the correct people to delegate to. But it allows you to grow and work ON your business rather than IN it every second of the day, helping you to scale more quickly. Delegate to the wrong people however, and you not only lose its advantages completely, but you'll also likely end up doing twice the work to clean up the mess.

So know that we know the importance of delegating, let's talk about who to delegate to, and how to do it effectively.

"When you try to be everything to everyone, you actually end up being nothing to all of them."

Who Should I Delegate To?

First of all, the key to delegation is growth.

Successful delegating isn't just about hand-balling a task you don't want to do yourself. Rather, you should delegate key responsibilities to your people that are tailored to their specific situation - what are their career aspirations, and how will added responsibility help them grow?

This is where innovation starts, as well as a deeper connection between your people and your business.

There are two questions you should ask yourself when deciding who to delegate to:

Does this person already have the skills required to deliver the results we need?
If they don't yet, will this person thrive with additional responsibilities? (i.e, do they have the bandwidth and desire to take on more, or will additional work cause them to flounder?)

If you're wondering what skills/attributes I'm looking for when determining if a staff member is capable of taking on more responsibility, I've listed these below for you:

Does the person have the required communication skills necessary to handle this new responsibility?
Are they respected/trusted enough by their peers for this to work? (i.e, will they easily be able to achieve buy-in from others?)
Is this person up for the challenge, or are they not wanting to take on more work?
Do they possess the technical skills required to be successful?
Do they have a growth-mindset and a willingness to learn new skills?
Have they shown me that they can think innovatively and provide solutions to the problems that are likely to arise?
Will additional tasks/responsibilities cause undue stress, negatively impacting the person I'm considering?

I don't want throw them in the deep end if the responsibility isn't for them, so it's important that I consider these things and communicate any questions/concerns I have with my staff, before I make a decision.

How Do I Delegate Effectively?

So now you've picked the right person for the job, but how do you get the most out of your people to help them successfully manage their new challenges?

There are 7 Steps to follow for successful delegation, each and every time.

Step 1: Communicate the desired outcome

You need to make it clear what you need from your employee. What are your expectations? Be specific, and leave no room for ambiguity. If you want to ensure they've understood your instructions, ask them to repeat it back to you (please don't patronise your experienced staff by asking this question, however).

Step 2: Provide your staff with the tools and training they need

To deliver on the outcome you've asked from someone, you'll need to ensure you've given them the tools to be successful. The worst thing you can do is delegate a new task, and then forget about the person you gave the responsibility to. Teach your person:

How to complete the task
Where to find key information
Who the key players/stakeholder are
What tools/software they'll need to get the job done
How to use those tools effectively
What problems they can expect to arise
What solutions they'd have available to them to overcome these common problems
Where they can find support if they get stuck

Step 3: Set follow up dates

The responsibility that you've delegated to someone might be new to them, so please, please, please don't give them a new task and then suddenly disappear. It's your responsibility to support them and check in as required. Encourage them to update you and ask questions, but also set formal follow-up dates for you to check in on their progress.

Step 4: Give them room

When you delegate, you need to give people room to move. Yes, you're still in charge of the outcome of the project as the business owner or leader, but the aim of the game is to instil trust in your people when you give them additional responsibility. That means you can't be watching over them like a hawk. Check in, but don't micro-manage.

Step 5: Monitor and assess

Regularly keep in contact with your employees to find out how they're coping with the new responsibility.

Are they enjoying the new challenge?
Is it helping them to grow like you'd hoped it would?
Is it freeing up your time to deliver other work in your business?
Are your customers happy with the change?

Step 6: Adapt and adjust

If things aren't quite going to plan, don't be afraid to pivot and reassess. This might mean scaling back what you're asking from your employee, or removing something else from their plate if they're struggling with the workload. Just make sure you give them enough time to adjust to any changes you make, without making snap decisions. Adjusting takes time.

Step 7: Celebrate success

As always, remember to make a big deal out of people's successes. If you're delegating a new task to an inexperienced staff member, there's a high chance that what you're giving them is new to them. Perhaps they've never taken on a project or responsibility as large as this before.

Celebrate their wins along the journey, and be sure to remind them of how much their efforts have helped your team and your business. Recognise their hard work. People love to feel valued and to hear that they're doing a good job, so tell them often!

How do you delegate responsibilities to your staff? How do you find the ambitious go-getters in your organisation who want more?

Let me know your thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

To your success,

Adrian

Adrian Petrie is a Best-Selling Author who helps businesses grow through Digital Marketing and Management Consulting Services.

He is an expert at building, scaling and motivating high-performance teams, and believes that the number one asset of any business is its people. This is why he's passionate about leadership and helps his clients to get the best out of their staff, with proven, easy-to-understand methods.

If you want to learn how to engage your staff to drive exceptional results, or if you need help attracting more leads into your business, contact us today to request a free strategy session.